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India Future Job Market: India has been ranked second in terms of preparedness for jobs of the future including artificial intelligence (AI) and green skills, only behind the United States, in the QS World Future Skills Index 2025.
But in terms of economic transformation, India has been ranked 40th, and in terms of the workforce having the desired skills for future jobs, 37th, in the index.
The QS World Future Skills Index uses specific indicators to evaluate how well countries are equipped to meet the evolving demands of the international job market. QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) is among the world’s leading data analysis and solutions providers for the global higher education sector.
Overall, India ranked 25th across all indicators, which also includes the alignment between skills and employer needs, academic readiness, and economic transformation.
This overall ranking makes India a “future skills contender”, the report said. Countries in the top 10, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Canada, have been categorised as “future skills pioneers”.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the ranking as “heartening”. Here’s what the survey says.
The survey evaluated four broad indicators identified by QS:
SKILLS FIT: This measures how well countries are equipping graduates with the skills that employers desire.
FUTURE OF WORK: This evaluates a country’s readiness to recruit for the skills needed in the jobs of tomorrow.
ACADEMIC READINESS: This dimension measures how well a country is prepared for the future of work.
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION: This uses a weighted formula to assess a country’s readiness to support the growth and future of work and skills by examining various key indicators.
How has India performed on these indicators?
India has ranked second in the ‘Future of Work’ indicator, behind only the United States, and ahead of countries such as Germany and Canada. This indicator measures how well the job market is prepared to meet the growing demand for digital, AI, and green skills, critical as economies transition towards technology-driven and sustainable industries.
The assessment of the survey has been done largely from the demand side, that is, through job postings. The score has been derived from an analysis of more than 280 million job postings worldwide, QS has said.
“The future of work score measures the extent to which future-focused skills — such as digital, AI, and green competencies — have permeated global job advertisements compared to traditional skill sets,” the report says.
The distinction between a demand-based and a supply-based analysis is important because on some of the supply side indicators, India’s ranking is poor.
In terms of ‘Skills Fit’, India scored 59.1, which is the worst among the top 30 countries overall. “Employers across India are highlighting a critical gap in the workforce’s ability to meet the demands of a rapidly changing economic landscape,” the report says. “This shortfall underscores a broader challenge for India’s higher education system, which is struggling to keep pace with evolving employer needs,” it says.
While the analysis gives India a full 100 marks on economic capacity, it fares the worst on the parameter of future-oriented innovation in sustainability, both of which are sub-parameters under the larger umbrella of ‘economic transformation’.
In future-oriented innovation and sustainability, India scores just 15.6 out of 100. In comparison, the G7 countries have scored 68.3, EU countries 59, Asia-Pacific countries 44.7, and African countries 25.4.
Overall, India has scored 58.3 on the ‘economic transformation’ parameter, and occupies the 40th position.
“India’s economic transformation has been driven by the interplay of growth, workforce efficiency, and the evolving role of higher education… However, gaps in investment and innovation capacity pose challenges that could slow long-term growth. To fully realise its potential, India must align economic momentum with robust higher education reforms and skills development, ensuring a dynamic and competitive position in the global economy,” the report says.
On the ‘academic readiness’ indicator, India’s score is 89.9, which puts the country at the 26th spot for this parameter.
The report says India’s graduates are “struggling to keep up with the pace of change in relevant skills required”.
“India’s overall ‘skills fit’ score is lower than counterparts in APAC (Asia-Pacific), with a particularly large skills gap in ‘entrepreneurial and innovative mindset’”, the report says.
The India spotlight portion of the report notes that “employers across India are highlighting a critical gap in the workforce’s ability to meet the demands of a rapidly changing economic landscape”.
This shortfall “underscores a broader challenge for India’s higher education system, which is struggling to keep pace with evolving employer needs”, it says.
To address this, “universities must prioritise embedding creativity, problem solving, and entrepreneurial thinking into their curricula and foster stronger collaborations with industry to better align education with workforce demands”, according to the report.
The report has recommended that government policy and higher education “will require a focused strategy to re-engage workers in continuous and lifelong reskilling programmes to ensure skilled workers remain relevant and productivity contributors”.
